The tests for the upcoming patch 9.1 for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands and the first expansion for WoW Classic, The Burning Crusade, started almost simultaneously. Game Director Ion Hazzikostas is now reassuring players who fear that both contents would release at the same time.
This is what Hazzikostas says: The Chinese streamer LingHunFuSu was able to interview the WoW Game Director, Ion Hazzikostas, about some current topics and upcoming content in a nearly 20-minute interview (via Douyu).
Among other things, Hazzikostas spoke about the release of The Burning Crusade Classic and patch 9.1. In typical Blizzard fashion, the statements are somewhat vague, but he can probably alleviate possible concerns:
Of course, we will have more information about the specific release dates for Burning Crusade Classic and Chains of Domination at the announcement. I can tell you that it is very unlikely that we will release both of them at the same time. We know that many players want to experience both.
These are projects that would differ in their required testing time. Tests would need to start early enough to implement feedback and achieve a good result.
Why is this important? The tests of both new contents started almost simultaneously. On March 24, the beta of Burning Crusade Classic started, and on April 14, patch 9.1 began on the WoW PTR.
At the moment, both tests are running separately, and it was not entirely clear whether the contents would also be released somewhat simultaneously. Those who play both Retail and Classic would hardly have time for both and would have to decide which one to play at release.
Hazzikostas’s statement can calm the situation a bit, even if he does not reveal whether patch 9.1 or TBC Classic will be released first.
Patch 9.1 vs. TBC – Which will release first?
The development time for TBC Classic is likely shorter, as it is “only” existing content that has been polished. Patch 9.1 brings entirely new content and will probably take a bit longer.
However, it is likely that patch 9.1 will be the first of the two contents to release. New content for the Retail version is simply more important to more players than raids, dungeons, and worlds they could already explore over 10 years ago.
In a survey by Wowhead, over 71.2% of the more than 13,000 respondents indicated that they wanted to see patch 9.1 sooner:
Hazzikostas himself understands that there are players who only play one of the two games and Blizzard does not want to offend either group. However, there is already growing discontent in WoW about the content and even patch 9.1 is being mocked before release.
If the company wants to avoid more players getting upset, patch 9.1 would need to release first. If the contents are particularly good, at least a large portion of the player base would be appeased. However, we still have to wait for an official announcement.
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